1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a piping assembly particularly suitable for circulation of cooling water in a secondary cooling zone of a continuous casting line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For cooling cast strip (in this specification, the term "strip" is intended to mean a slab, broom and billet) guide rollers and their bearing boxes in a secondary cooling zone of a continuous casting line, it has been the conventional practice to provide a number of water feed and discharge pipes along a roll section for connection to the respective rollers and bearing boxes. As a result, there must be provided a very complicated piping assembly which is difficult to assemble such that the piping work becomes almost impossible, particularly in a case where the guide rollers are mounted close to each other in a limited space. Due to the difficulty of providing rigid piping, it is often necessary to use flexible tubes in various parts of a piping system, which however are unreliable with respect to durability and are accompanied by the possibility of water leaks occurring at joint portions. In addition, since complicated pipings are exposed, the restoring effort required after a breakout of a cast strip is very difficult and troublesome, lowering the operational efficiency of the casting facilities to a considerable degree.